Monthly Archives: April 2011

Companies can reduce the risk of adopting new innovation methods by testing them first. A short, pilot program that addresses a specific product or service line helps you understand whether a new method is right for your company. Pilot programs help keep your costs in line, and they help you reduce resistance to adopting new methods. To organize an innovation ...

Innovation is less about causal thinking than it is about effectual thinking. I confess I didn’t know “effectual” was a word until I was recently directed to the ground breaking research of Dr. Saras Sarasvathy, a professor at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business. She interviewed 45 successful entrepreneurs. (Or, more accurately, asked them to think out loud ...

Recently I read an article in Wall Street Journal on how the BMW iVentures capital fund plans to invest in smartphone app start-up firms. This was interesting so I decided to look further into how BMW approaches external contributions to their innovation efforts. This is one of the most respected car companies in the world and I still remember a ...

Important for CEOs to Maintain and Reset Focus by Idris Mootee The recent news about Cisco deciding to get rid of the Flip video business came as no surprise to me. When I first heard that Cisco was purchasing Pure Digital (maker of the flash-based camera Flip) I was wondering what was the strategic logic behind it. Not sure how ...

Blogging Innovation is looking for the Top 10 Innovation Presentations, and we have up to $3,700 worth of prizes up for grabs. To give me a little more time to identify the TEN BEST and to give you a little more time to submit your favorites, I’ve pushed out the deadline and announcement 48 hours. What are your favorite presentations ...

There I was, two weeks ago sitting in an auditorium on a Sunday attending TEDxCMU. It was an inspiring and emotional day with twelve fantastic talks from local and national presenters. One of the talks was by Luis von Ahn, a CMU professor. It only took me a minute to realize that I was in the presence of an amazing ...

The ideas funnel has been with us a long time. We put our ideas into the funnel and then through a process of elimination out ‘pop’s’ finished products. Henry Chesbrough’s famous depiction of the Open Funnel has continued that concept, that ideas enter the more ‘open’ innovation process and go through a more ‘staged gate’ or equivalent process to emerge ...

Following as Waiting or Betraying In any field requiring constant innovation, the value of leadership is taken for granted. Consider Edison’s invention of the light bulb, Durand’s patenting of the tin can, or Kellogg’s discovery of flaked corn. An intrepid pioneer, bold and undaunted, does something new and it catches on. This is conventional wisdom. When something catches on, when an ...

It seems that every time I take some time off (whether it’s a long weekend or paternity leave), I bring a fresh perspective about my work back to the office. I tell myself in the days beforehand I’m going work smarter, seek better balance, avoid more distractions, and so forth. With the best of intentions, these objectives too often fall ...

Imagine that you are planning a big surprise party. You want it to be entertaining, spectacular, memorable and different. You could plan and project manage every element of the party yourself: the theme, venue, music, food, drink, entertainment, games, diversions etc. Or you could involve a number of people to help you with their ideas and their skills. One person ...